In the post-crisis era, lenders face the challenge of striking a delicate balance between judicious lending practices and access to financing for creditworthy consumers. The deluge of mortgage defaults and foreclosures that has plagued the industry over the past half decade was set into motion by a subprime mortgage crisis characterized by lax lending standards, easy credit, and higher-risk mortgage products.

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has launched a new initiative designed to mitigate the damage of housing's boom-and-bust cycles. Designed by AEI fellows Edward Pinto and Stephen Oliner, the newly unveiled Mortgage Risk Index measures the safety of lending the United States by gauging how mortgage loans would perform under stress (as defined by the experience of loans originated in 2007). According to the index, mortgage risk today is high compared to the "sound lending practices in place in 1990."

Pite Duncan, LLP, announced the promotion of Christopher Peterson to partner.

WDB Funding, LLC, announced the appointment of Andrew Pollock as the firm's president and CEO. Pollock brings 25 years' experience heading large-scale lending operations to his new role, where he is responsible for providing day-to-day leadership, managing operations, and executing the strategic direction of the company.

The U.S. Treasury reported just under 23,000 permanent loan modifications completed under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) in November, bringing the total count to nearly 922,000. According to Treasury's data, homeowners have reduced their first-lien mortgage payments by a median of approximately $546 each month, or almost 40 percent of their median before-modification payment. Total estimated savings afforded by the program is $24.2 billion to date, Treasury reports.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced Wednesday that it has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to delay implementation of planned changes to their guarantee fee (g-fee) structure.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recovered nearly $8 billion last year in its pursuit of funds related to allegedly fraudulent loan sales to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

NewOak announced the appointment of Neil McPherson as head of business development. McPherson, who was part of the original business development team when NewOak launched in 2008, returns to the firm with responsibility for coordinating NewOak├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós client development efforts across all its business lines: valuation and risk advisory, litigation consulting and dispute resolution, mortgage credit services, and financial technology solutions.

With investment activity diminishing and mortgage-dependent buyers returning, economists at Capital Economics say the housing market can look forward to a more moderate pace of price increases.

As part of its "Strategic Plan for Enterprise Conservatorships," the Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to bring up their guarantee fees (g-fees). Based on the GSEs' loan purchases in Q3 2013, FHFA expects the announced changes to the g-fee structure to produce an overall average g-fee increase of approximately 11 basis points, which represents an average increase of 14 basis points on a typical 30-year mortgage.